Navigon MobileNavigator Updates with Native iPhone, iPad Support

if you have an iPhone or iPad and use Navigon MobileNavigator for turn-by-turn driving directions and GPS navigation, today's update to MobileNavigator brings new features worth looking at.

If you have an iPhone or iPad and use Navigon MobileNavigator for turn-by-turn driving directions and GPS navigation, today's update to MobileNavigator brings new features that will please current users and make the service and mobile apps more enticing to people looking for a robust GPS navigation solution for their iOS device.

Among the new features in MobileNavigator 1.7.0 are true iPad integration, a new Active Lane Assistant that helps drivers stay in-lane when driving, and access to Zagat reviews of restaurants, attractions, and businesses worldwide for Zagat subscribers.

The biggest update to the app is full iPad integration, which makes the app run just as well on the iPad as it does on the iPhone. The new version can fully utilize the iPad's larger display, and allows you to use multi-touch gestures to scroll around maps, plan routes, get directions, and even see MobileNavigtator's "Reality View" along with a map view in the same display. The update also introduced support for Apple's new Retina Display, so iPhone 4 users will be able to benefit from the higher resolution of their device.

Navigon also added an Active Lane Assistant to the new version of MobileNavigator, which works much like the standard lane alarms in a number of high-end luxury vehicles. The app shows a live lane animation in the lower-left corner of the app's display while you're driving and displays an orange line that indicates where the driver should be in order to make the next exit or where they should stay. If the driver drifts out of the lane or isn't in the right lane to make their turn, the app will alert you.

Navigon also partnered with Zagat to roll Zagat reviews into the new version of the app. Even if you're not a Zagat subscriber, you can purchase access to the reviews from inside the new MobileNavigator app. Once you're authorized to view them, you can access the service's database of over 40,000 destinations around the world, including restaurants, hotels, clubs and bars, and even amusement parks. The service makes it easy to find a highly-rated dinner destination right from your iPhone or iPad, and instantly get directions to it.

The new MobileNavigator also includes the ability to overwrite road names, mark roads with their speed limits, and update roads and streets in the app and send them to Navigon so they can update the service accordingly. This way you'll be less likely to encounter directions that tell you to turn the wrong way on a one way street, and if you do, you can at least report it so no one else suffers the same way you did.

The new version of MobileNavigator is rolling out to customers now, and will be available for all regions including the USA version, the North America version, and Canada version soon. Users with MobileNavigator US MyRegion East, Central, or West will get the update first. If you're not a subscriber, you can purchase the app now from the iTunes App Store - all versions of the app and the Zagat review features are on sale through January 6th, 2011.